5.5 Million Children From Nomadic Communities Out of School in Nigeria – Commission

About 5.5 million children from nomadic pastoralist, migrant fishing and migrant farming communities are out of school across Nigeria, the National Commission for Nomadic Education has disclosed.

The Acting Executive Secretary of the commission, Dr Umar Abdu, revealed this during an interview with PUNCH on Tuesday in Kano, on the sidelines of a three-day international conference on education for nomadic pastoralists and other marginalised learners.

Abdu said the affected communities have a combined estimated population of 45.9 million across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

He stressed that the Federal Government’s nomadic education programme is not exclusively designed for Fulani pastoralists but also targets migrant fisherfolk and migrant farming communities.

“One major problem with discussions about nomadic education in Nigeria is the misconception that the programme is exclusively meant for Fulani people. That is not correct,” he said.

According to him, the commission currently has at least 1.9 million learners enrolled in its programmes across the country.

The disclosure was made during a conference themed, “Strengthening Inclusive and Flexible Education Pathways for Nomadic Pastoralists and Marginalised Learners in Africa.”

The event also featured a partnership involving Maryam Abacha American University of Nigeria, Kano, and three African universities to establish a consortium focused on expanding educational opportunities for marginalised communities.

The other institutions involved are the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Kenya; Capital University, Somalia; and the University of Namibia.

Abdu said the commission had introduced alternative learning methods to reach children who cannot easily access conventional schools because of insecurity, geographical isolation and other challenges.

These initiatives include mobile schools, learning centres established under trees and radio-based education.

He added that the commission was establishing skills acquisition centres to provide young people with vocational training and alternative sources of livelihood, with the aim of improving their economic independence and supporting their families.

However, Abdu identified inadequate funding, teacher shortages, frequent teacher transfers, declining girls’ enrolment and poor transition from primary to junior secondary education as major obstacles to the programme.

He explained that budgetary allocations to the commission were often insufficient to cover its nationwide responsibilities and were sometimes released late.

The acting executive secretary also said the commission had limited control over teachers deployed to nomadic schools because education falls under the Concurrent Legislative List, with responsibilities shared among the federal, state and local governments.

According to him, some teachers trained and assigned to nomadic schools are later transferred to conventional schools, disrupting learning and creating shortages in underserved communities.

“We sometimes experience situations where teachers trained and deployed to nomadic schools are transferred to conventional schools. This results in teacher attrition and disrupts the continuity of learning in nomadic communities,” he said.

To address the problem, the commission is engaging state and local governments to encourage the retention of teachers in nomadic schools. It is also promoting the recruitment of qualified individuals from nomadic communities who understand the children’s languages, cultures and lifestyles.

On girls’ education, Abdu said enrolment was generally encouraging between Primary One and Primary Three but often declined from Primary Four.

He attributed the drop to some parents withdrawing their daughters from school for early marriage and domestic responsibilities.

He also highlighted what he described as the “child substitution syndrome”, a practice in which parents withdraw older children from school to assist with cattle herding, fishing and farming before enrolling their younger siblings.

Abdu warned that the practice disrupts educational progression because younger children cannot automatically continue from the academic level reached by their older siblings.

He further noted that the absence of nearby junior secondary schools in many nomadic communities makes the transition from primary education difficult, particularly for girls.

The commission, he said, was seeking support from development partners, state governments, philanthropists and other stakeholders to tackle the challenges.

He disclosed that Bauchi, Jigawa, Zamfara and Sokoto states had established agencies responsible for nomadic education, while Niger State had created a ministry dedicated to nomadic education and pastoral affairs.

The commission is also collaborating with state agencies, State Universal Basic Education Boards and non-governmental organisations to improve access to education and reduce school dropout rates among the three targeted communities.